What is SpaceFiber, unveiled by Reliance Jio at India Mobile Congress?

Akash Ambani, Chairperson, Reliance Jio, gave a demonstration to PM Narendra Modi, who inaugurated the 3-day IMC.

Reliance Jio on Friday launched JioSpaceFiber, which it says is India's maiden satellite-based gigabit broadband service. Akash Abmani, Chairperson, Reliance Jio, unveiled JioSpaceFiber by giving a demonstration to prime minister Narendra Modi on the opening day of the 3-day India Mobile Congress (IMC) in Delhi.

**EDS: HANDOUT IMAGE** New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Chairman of Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited Akash Ambani at the Jio pavilion at the India Mobile Congress, in New Delhi, Friday, Oct. 27, 2023. (PTI Photo) (PTI10_27_2023_000016B)

“Jio SpaceFiber will allow everyone, everywhere, to fully participate in the new digital society with gigabit access to online government, education, health, and entertainment services,” Ambani said on the occasion.

JioSpaceFiber, Ambani further said, will ‘expand our reach to cover the millions yet to be connected.’

What is Jio SpaceFiber?

(1.) As the name suggests, it is a satellite-based internet network; with it, the company seeks to extend high-speed broadband services to areas previously inaccessible. It is in addition to Jio's existing offerings – JioFiber and Jio AirFiber.

(2.) For the ambitious project, Reliance Jio teamed up with SES, a Luxembourg-based satellites communication provider. It will leverage the latter's O3b and the new O3b mPower satellites for the purpose.

(3.) Using these satellites, Reliance will tap into the latest in medium earth orbit (MEO) technology to ‘bolster' mobile backhaul capacity, thus expanding the reach and scalability of Jio's True5G network even in remote areas.

(4.) In September 2022, Jio Satellites, a Reliance Jio unit, received approval from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to start high-speed broadband-from-space services, as per Economic Times.

(5.) Jio SpaceFiber, meanwhile, is already available in four of India's most remote locations: Gir (Gujarat), Korba (Chhattisgarh), Nabarangpur (Odisha) and ONGC-Jorhat (Assam). It will soon be available throughout the country at highly competitive prices.